Nowadays, people tend to move away from their office or a meeting room to other, more welcoming spaces, particularly when working collaboratively in small groups. These places may, for example, consist of lounge-type spaces, with sofas and low tables, or bar-type spaces with high stools. These spaces may not, however, be well suited to working, since the seat base may not be ergonomic, the positioning and height of the tables may not be suitable, and people tend to adopt poor posture, for example leaning forwards towards a low table on which their portable computers are placed, or putting the computers on their laps because there is no available work surface.
Studies have shown that the emotional aspect of people working in small groups is important and this is what draws them to a more welcoming and attractive place than an ordinary office or meeting room. These people are looking for a pleasant, comfortable space allowing greater freedom in group discussions and a sort of escape. These spaces allow people to relax and work in a different way, outside an overly “serious” setting, to form closer links and build trusting relationships.
This option may, however, be detrimental to the technical performance that can be offered by an office or meeting room. Such office or meeting room environments typically have ergonomic furniture, sizeable work surfaces, practical places for leaving one's bag, jacket or personal items, technological media such as power outlets, network sockets, multimedia devices etc., and a spatial environment appropriate for working, for example with acoustic insulation and a visual barrier to other adjacent offices.